In "Contemporary Color," a copresentation of Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mr. Byrne has organized collaborations among 10 elite color guard teams and recording artists, including St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado and Devonté Hynes. Between acts, the showcase, performed on Saturday at Barclays Center, included video clips making it clear that for many students, color guard is a way to find like-minded souls in what can be the most harrowing of American experiences: high school.

The idea to pair color guard with live music is an intriguing one, but the results don't entirely click. One exception was the pairing of Somerville High School in New Jersey with Money Mark and Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys whose music, not unlike that of a marching band, grew in power. But too much of the music was on the slow side, suffocating the routines and making it apparent that the earnestness of the performers clashed with the musicians who had difficulty shedding their personas. They may have been in bands in high school, but it didn't feel as if they had ever been band geeks. - [NY Times]

After two shows last week in Toronto, David Byrne brought his music-meets-color-guard "Contemporary Color" extravaganza to Barclays Center on Saturday (6/27) and Sunday (6/28), pairing performers such as St. Vincent, How to Dress Well, Dev Hynes, Ad Rock & Money Mark, tUnE-yArDs, Nelly Furtado and Zola Jesus (performing songs written just for this production) with high school color guard teams. Pictures from Saturday's performance, plus video of St. Vincent and David Byrne's performances from Sunday, continue below...

The annualBAM Next Wave Festival returns in 2015 from September 16 - December 20 with multiple events in dance, music, opera, performance art, and theater.

There's a few cool things on the music front, including producer Kid Koala (of Deltron 3030 and other projects) presenting an adaptation of his graphic novel, Nufonia Must Fall, from September 17-19 at BAM Harvey Theater. The event description reads:

Directed by the Oscar-nominated production designer K.K. Barrett (Her, Marie Antoinette, Lost in Translation, Being John Malkovich) the story centers around a lonesome, music-obsessed, headphones-sporting robot on the verge of obsolescence who falls in love with a winsome office worker.

After a chance encounter, their precarious courtship unfolds via real-time filming of more than a dozen miniature stage settings and a cast of meticulously-crafted puppets. Kid Koala and the dynamic Canadian ensemble, the Afiara Quartet, provide the live score for piano, strings, and turntables, creating an unforgettably heartwarming performance experience that provides a fresh look at contemporary relationships, technology, and existential relevance.

Another one is Portland indie band Other Lives (who recently put out a new album) presenting the world premiere of Reconfiguration: An Evening with Other Lives on October 9 and 10 at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House . Here's details:

True to its title, Reconfiguration: An Evening with Other Lives reconceives the acclaimed indie rock band's live show as an immersive theatrical experience helmed by Steppenwolf Theatre Company cofounder Terry Kinney in this world premiere collaborative work. Other Lives' Jesse Tabish, Jonathan Mooney, Josh Onstott, Daniel Hart, and Danny Reish will perform songs from their most recent album, Rituals, along with previous releases, while Kinney crafts an engrossing audio-visual narrative inspired by the band's lyrics and Oklahoma roots.

And jazz composer Darcy James Argue is premiering his new piece Real Enemies with Isaac Butler, Peter Nigrini, and the 18-piece Secret Society ensemble from November 18-21 at BAM Harvey Theater. Details:

Grammy Award-nominated composer Darcy James Argue and his acclaimed 18-member jazz ensemble Secret Society return to BAM with Real Enemies--a multimedia work that explores American conspiracy theories in 12 vignettes. Using both contemporary and historical stories of both real and imagined plots, Real Enemies will build a new conspiracy theory on stage.

Featuring a series of short films by Peter Nigrini, broadcast on multiple surfaces designed by Maruti Evans, Real Enemies creates connections and mini-narratives between disparate pieces of information. The work's narrative, by Isaac Butler, is drawn from declassified government papers, conspiracy documentaries, and historical sources--fusing a final collage of pictures, multiple channels of simultaneously-broadcast film, and live music performed by Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.

One of the opera events has My Brightest Diamond frontwoman Shara Worden teaming up with Andrew Ondrejcak and Baroque Orchestration X for the US premiere of You Us We All from November 11-14 at BAM Harvey Theater. The description reads:

Singer and composer Shara Worden partners with writer/director/designer Andrew Ondrejcak to create this contemporary opera for five singers and a baroque chamber ensemble. YOU US WE ALL is inspired by the 17th-century court masques, with characters, lyrics, music, costumes, sets, and staging
all fractured through a contemporary lens. The explicitly allegorical characters--Death, Hope, Virtue, and Love--are thrust into our world, where they negotiate mundane everyday lives: going to the gym, obsessing over celebrities, fantasizing the life-that-could-be, etc--until Time comes along and tears everything away.

The 2015 BAM Next Wave Festival also includes a performance art event with Miranda July and many more.

Tickets go on sale June 8 to members and June 15 to the general public. Tickets for individual shows go on sale August 3 to members and August 10 to the general public. Check out the full list of events below.

Funk legend George Clinton was in NYC last week (5/12) for a talk at Brooklyn Museum as part of the Red Bull Music Academy. The hour-plus conversation touched on his whole career, being sampled and more. You can watch the whole thing below. If you'd like to hear more from him, Clinton released a memoir, Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?, last year.

Clinton will be back in our area soon, but with Parliament-Funkadelic, playing two free NYC shows: Queensbridge Park on July 15 as part of SummerStage, and then Brooklyn's Metrotech Commons on July 16 as part of BAM's free summer R&B Festival. The Metrotech show is at noon, and later that day P-Funk will play another free show, this time at Newark's NJPAC Theatre Square. Originally Clinton was to have played NJPAC on June 10 as part of a "House Party" with Kid n' Play and Full Force, but that was recently cancelled.

Then on July 19, Clinton and P-Funk play The Paramount in Long Island. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All upcoming dates are listed, along with video of Clinton's BAM lecture series, below...

BAM's annual summer R&B Festival which happens Thursdays at noon - 2 PM at MetroTech Commons at MetroTech Center from June 4 - August 6 (corner of Flatbush and Myrtle Aves in Brooklyn). All shows are free and open to the public. This year's lineup:

RadioLoveFestreturns for a second year at BAM from May 5 - 10, reimagining some of your favorite radio programs as a live show. This year's highlights include science show Radiolab Live (5/5), "An Evening with Terry Gross" (5/6), "Don't Look Back: Stories from the Teenage Years" (5/6) which is hosted by Molly Ringwald, quiz show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me" (5/7) with contestants Mike Birbiglia, Jessi Klein, and Peter Grosz, and the music of The Smiths and Morrissey interpreted by Mexican musicians for a show called "Mexrrissey" (5/10).

There's also a film series (including The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Last Waltz and Naked Lunch), live music in the BAMcafé and more. Tickets are on sale now for BAM members and will go on sale to the general public on March 16. Full RadioLoveFest 2015 schedule is below.

Like last year, the 2015 Red Bull Music Academy will host a two-night tribute concert at BAM. Last year was William Onyeabor, and this year they'll be paying tribute to the late, great Arthur Russell whose music spanned folk, classical, dance and areas in between. The tribute concerts happen May 29 & 30 at BAM featuring Sam Amidon, Cults, Redding Hunter, Dev Hynes, Thao Nguyen, Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Rubblebucket, Little Scream and more to be announced. (Originally listed as part of this, Phosphorescent is not currently on this lineup.) The show is co-presented by Red Hot, who released the Arthur Russell tribute album last year that all of these artists are featured on.

The epitome of a postmodern musician, Arthur Russell changed the rules in his much-too-brief lifetime. The Iowa-born composer, cellist and singer entered the Downtown NYC scene in the 1970s - and by the time he passed away in 1992, his influence had permeated virtually every aspect of it. Be it as the musical director of experimental art space The Kitchen; collaborator to Allen Ginsberg, David Byrne, and Ali Akbar Khan; disco innovator with his Loose Joints and Dinosaur L projects; or extraordinary solo musician - Arthur Russell was a master of many trades. To honor his legacy, the Red Hot Organization released the compilation Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell, featuring more than 20 artists paying musical tribute. Over the course of two special evenings at BAM, the Red Bull Music Academy teams up with Red Hot to bring together an all-star cast of musicians to bring the compilation to life.

RBMA will wrap up its 2015 slate with another Arthur Russell-related show at Good Room on May 31, this one paying tribute to Sleeping Bag Records, the hip hop/dance label he co-founded with Will Socolov and Juggy Gales in 1981 that released records by Mantronix, Just-Ice, T La Rock and EPMD to Nocera, Joyce Sims, and Kariya. Kurtis Mantronik, onetime Studio 54 DJ Nicky Siano and Morgan Geist (Metro Area) will play Sleeping Bag sets. Tickets will be on sale soon.

If you're unfamiliar with Arthur Russell's music, you can stream a few of his records (via Rdio) below, and acclaimed documentary, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell is available via iTunes, Amazon and other streaming services.

With the most recent run of David Byrne's Here Lies Love now in the past, David Byrne has just announced his next high-concept project which is on an even bigger scale. It's called Contemporary Color which happens at Barclays Center on June 27 & 28. A co-production with BAM (part of their 2015 Winter/Spring Season), it's a mix of live music and color guard (the synchronized flags will be familiar to anyone who's watched a high school or college marching band). The live music portion feature performances from Byrne, Nelly Furtado, How to Dress Well, Devonté Hynes, Kelis, Nico Muhly + Ira Glass, St. Vincent, and tUnE-yArDs, plus 10 color guard teams from the US and Canada.

Tickets are on artist presale now (password: DBCOLOR). Tickets are also on sale today (1/21) for Friends of BAM, with an AmEx presale starting Friday (1/23) at 10 AM. Tickets go on sale to the general public January 28 at 10 AM.

Here are more details from Byrne:

Some years ago, a Colorguard team wanted to use some music I'd written (from a theater piece I did with Robert Wilson, called The Forest) for one of their routines. I said, "Fine, no charge... you are a high school team after all." But I asked that they send me documentation out of curiosity and for my archives. I eventually got a DVD of the whole World Championship competition. I watched, and was amazed and delighted to find myself in a new world that I didn't know existed.
What I was viewing is more properly referred to in that world as winterguard--as it takes place in the winter and spring--after fall football season, when the colorguard teams are more closely associated with drum lines and marching bands. Off season they do their own thing--still employing flags, rifles and sabers--but their routines are less about formation than about themes, emotion, concepts and visual spectacle. Over recent decades, the teams have evolved into something strange and wonderful; they've created a vibrant, innovative and original vernacular artform that is wildly popular across the whole North American continent, but is all but unknown in many of the big urban centers--like New York, where I live. Contemporary Color aims to remedy that situation.

I was stunned at what I was seeing, and being a musician I naturally wondered to myself, "What if these performances had live music? Really great live music! Wouldn't that be amazing? And wouldn't that lift it to another level?" (Besides being fun for the musicians too!). The competitions these teams engage in already fill arenas with their fans and supporters, so I thought to myself, "Let's take it from there!"

You can watch a video trailer about Contemporary Color below and learn more at its website. The extravaganza will make its world premiere the week before (June 22 & 23) at Toronto's Luminato Festival.

Sufjan Stevens will be presenting the world premiere of his new piece, Round-Up, in Brooklyn at BAM from January 20-25, part of BAM's 2015 Winter/Spring Season. Here's the premise:

In this BAM commissioned work, shown on the Steinberg Screen, Stevens turns his gaze to the rodeo, in all its bull-riding, calf-roping, and barrel-racing glory. With slow-motion footage shot by sibling filmmakers Aaron and Alex Craig at the 2013 Pendleton Round-Up in Oregon--and featuring Stevens on electronics and new-music ensemble Yarn/Wire performing piano and percussion--Round-Up is a musical and cinematic portrait of a classic American tradition.

Subscriptions are on sale now to Friends of BAM and go on sale Monday (11/17) to the general public. Single tickets go on sale December 1 to Friends of BAM and December 8 to the general public.

Sufjan also appears in NYC sooner than that for Cyndi Lauper's 'Home for the Holidays' show at Beacon Theatre on December 6 which also includes Cyndi herself, 50 Cent, Patty Griffin, Salt N Pepa, STRFKR, Metric singer Emily Haines and more. Tickets are on sale now. Full lineup below.

The films of Andy Warhol are provocative milestones of underground cinema, flaunting convention simply by letting the gritty world be itself[1]. They include a motionless eight-hour shot of the Empire State Building, a short of Lou Reed drinking a Coke, and erotic acts aplenty.

Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifts released their new album lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar earlier this month and just brought their tour to the NYC-area for three dates. First, they hit Port Chester's Capitol Theater on September 25 and then came to BAM for shows on Saturday (9/27) and Sunday (9/28) which were part of Nonesuch Records at BAM. We caught Friday's show, which included five songs from the new album and seven Zeppelin songs including "Thank You," "Going to California," "Whole Lotta Love" and more. Olivia Chaney opened and the drummer of the Sensational Space Shifters sat in with her. Pictures of that one are in this post.

As you may know, Led Zeppelin are in the process of reissuing albums and the next two up are IV and Houses of the Holy which come out October 28. They've now shared the "mix minus piano" version of "The Rain Song," which you can hear below (via Pitchfork).

There were no speeches, or stagy hugs, or arms lifted in reconciliation. Not even a handshake. Still, on Tuesday night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, two pioneers of Minimalism, the composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich, both 77, put aside a personal and professional feud that lasted more than 40 years and, for the first time since the early '70s, performed together as they had in their early days so often and so momentously.

...The audience that packed the house on Tuesday applauded and cheered with delight when Mr. Glass and Mr. Reich walked onstage to play "Four Organs," scored for four digital keyboards and maracas. The other players were two composer-pianists of the new generation, Nico Muhly and Timo Andres, and the percussionist David Cossin from the Glass Ensemble.

...The ensemble then played Parts 1 and 2 of Mr. Glass's "Music in 12 Parts," completed in 1974, a sort of how-to catalog of Minimalist techniques turned into a haunting, audacious piece. Best of all was the "Funeral of Amenhotep III" from Mr. Glass's 1983 opera "Akhnaten," performed by nine players, including two percussionists, music that in its obsessive figurations seems at once terrifying and exuberant. [NY Times]

"Nonesuch Records at BAM," the 50th anniversary celebration of the label, began last night (9/9) with two events, one being the highly-anticipated collaboration from contemporary composer greats Philip Glass and Steve Reich, their first in four decades. As the above review points out, they were joined by Nico Muhly, Timo Andres and David Cossin, and the performance lived up to its expectations. Pictures and a video in this post.

Reich and Glass do it two more times, first tonight (9/10) and again on Thursday (9/11). They're in the Howard Gilman Opera House, while jazz composer Brad Mehldau (the other show last night) wraps up his two-night run in the Harvey Theater tonight. Tonight Brad will be joined by Chris Thile of Nickel Creek/Punch Brothers.

Sam Amidon is releasing a new album of re-imagined folk songs, Lily-O, on September 30 via Nonesuch. The album features jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, as well as past Sam Amidon collaborators Shahzad Ismaily (bass) and Chris Vatalaro (drums). You can check out "Walkin' Boss" from the new LP, below.

Sam also has some dates coming up, including a previously discussed appearance at "Nonesuch Records at BAM" on September 20, along with Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens and Olivia Chaney. Tickets for that show are still available.

Just yesterday we were talking about the upcoming Led Zeppelin reissues, and now Robert Plant has announced a North American tour with his band the Sensational Space Shifters. The tour kicks off just outside of NYC at Port Chester's Capitol Theater on September 25 and then comes here for shows on September 27 & 28 at BAM. Cap tickets go on sale Friday, August 15 at noon and BAM tickets are on sale now. Citi cardmembers can purchase tickets to any tour date via www.citiprivatepass.com/ starting August 12, and those all come with a copy of Plant's new record. All dates are listed below.

The new record, titled lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, comes out September 9 via Nonesuch/Warner Bros. The band just premiered a live video for that album's track, "Rainbow," over at Rolling Stone. You can check that out, with the list of dates, below...

Tweedy, the new project of Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and his 18-year old son Spencer who are releasing an album this year, will make their NYC debut on September 23 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Tickets are on presale now. In addition to Tweedy performing songs off their upcoming LP, Jeff will also play a solo acoustic set of Wilco songs.

Check out the setlist and photos from his June ACL TV taping (and stay tuned for that recording to also premiere on TV).

All of Jeff's and Wilco's dates are listed, with a Tweedy video, below...

While we already knew that "Nonesuch Records at BAM" and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus / Bryce Dessner collaboration (though details on that one were TBA) were going to be part of the 2014 Next Wave Festival, the full line-up of programming has just been announced. BAM Next Wave runs from September 9 through December 20, featuring 30 theater, music, dance, and film productions. 2014 Next Wave Festival subscriptions and single tickets to BAM Fisher presentations go on sale June 23 to the general public (June 16 to friends of BAM). Single tickets for all other Next Wave engagements go on sale Aug 18 (Aug 11 for Friends of BAM).

Among the non-Nonesuch music events, the highlight is probably Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films which happens at Howard Gilman Opera House on November 6 - 8. Presented by The Andy Warhol Museum (which turns 20 this year) and Dean Wareham, the events comprise 15 never-before-seen films captured by Andy Warhol between 1963 and 1968 on his original 16mm Bolex camera, scored (and performed live) by Bradford Cox, Eleanor Friedberger, Martin Rev, Tom Verlaine and Wareham.

In addition to his three nights with Steve Reich, Philip Glass will also be performing The Complete Piano Etudes at two concerts at Howard Gilman Opera House on Dec 5 & 6.

There's also the world premiere of Black Mountain Songs featuring music by Bryce Dessner, Tim Hecker, John King, Nico Muhly, Richard Reed Parry, Caroline Shaw, and Aleksandra Vrebalov as performed by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. That happens Nov 20 - 22 at BAM Harvey Theatre. You may have gone to a preview of that earlier this month.

Part of the music-theatre program is the US premiere of Shakespeare's Sonnets, "a contemporary take on 25 specially chosen sonnets from Shakespeare's cannon" with a score by Rufus Wainwright and direction by Robert Wilson. Performances happen October 7 - 11 at Howard Gilman Opera House, and Wilson and Wainright will discuss the project on October 8 at BAM Fisher (Hillman Studio).

There is, of course, lots more. A brief rundown of all BAM Next Wave Festival 2014 programming is below...

Contemporary composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass have announced that they'll perform together for the first time in over 30 years, as the kickoff event for "Nonesuch Records at BAM", the label's 50th anniversary going down this September.

"Nonesuch Records at BAM" also includes an event with Devendra Banhart, Stephin Merritt (who's involved in another BAM event happening sooner), and Iron & Wine; one with Natalie Merchant and Sam Amidon; another with Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet; two nights of Robert Plant and more. Full schedule below.

Members can get early access to tickets starting May 21, and they'll become available to the general public BAM's site on May 28.

The Steve Reich/Philip Glass event is also part of the 2014 Next Wave Festival. Still not many details on that, but we do know Bryce Dessner and Brooklyn Youth Chorus are performing. Members can get tickets to Next Wave starting June 16, and the general public starting June 23.

The Brooklyn Youth Chorus have a few performances coming up, and as usual, a couple of them are with notable indie musicians. First, they'll team up with The National's Bryce Dessner for the NYC 2014 Gala Concert on May 20 at The Green Building (452 Union St) which follows the 6 PM cocktails/buffet at 501 Union. They'll be previewing a new work by BYC, Dessner and collaborators commissioned by BAM which will make its world premiere at BAM's Next Wave Festival this year (details TBA). The gala honors Dessner, as well as TD Bank's Peter M. Meyer. Tickets (starting at $375) for the gala are on sale now and proceeds will benefit the Chorus' programming.

Another BYC/indie musician collaboration happens when the Chorus teams up with ambient artist Julianna Barwick for their annual Soundscapes concert, taking place on June 7 at Roulette in Brooklyn. The show will include new music by Julianna, in addition to material from her 2013 album, Nepenthe. Plus, this year's Soundscapes will feature works by Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and Caroline Shaw. Tickets are on sale now.

The same weekend as Soundscapes, BYC also play their annual Spring Sings! concerts at Roulette with one on Friday night (June 6) and two Saturday (6/7) matinees before the Soundscapes show that night.

The Soundscapes concert is part of a few upcoming dates for Julianna Barwick, who is getting her own beer in collaboration with Dogfish Head:

This June, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery will release Rosabi, a well-hopped Imperial Pale Ale brewed with musician Julianna Barwick. An exclusive run of 1,000 cases of six 750ml bottles will be packaged with a 10-inch record of original songs that Julianna composed using sounds from Dogfish Head's expanded brewery.

..."I just love Julianna's sonic palette," says Sam. "Her layered style reminds me of the art of brewing. Her songs are beautiful but completely unconventional, just as our beer recipes are completely nontraditional. But in the end, they are both distinct and find an adventurous community of enthusiasts."

The four-song mini-album will be available in a limited edition of 1,000, sold only in sealed cases of six 750ml bottles of the 8% ABV Rosabi. The vivid rose hue of Rosabi comes from a combination of Munich and Caramel malts and a touch of red rice from Julianna's home state of Louisiana. Citrusy Simcoe and Centennial feed Julianna's love of hops, and the star of the showis her go-to ingredient: wasabi. What's hoppy? ... Wasabi. The Japanese root adds bittering and herbal notes similar to hops, with its subtle heat creeping in after the kick of carbonation.

Just make sure the Brooklyn Youth Chorus doesn't get their hands on any, Julianna!

The five-day RadioLoveFest is coming to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in June, featuring various live radio shows with a variety of performers including Andrew Bird, Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen, They Might Be Giants, and Jonathan Coulton. On June 7th, Ira Glass will host an episode of This American Life live from BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, and though it is being billed as "one night only", it is now two shows in that one night. This is the updated description:

This American Life uses this evening at BAM as a chance to try something it's never attempted before: true stories staged as radio dramas. One of the stories will be an original mini-musical by Broadway composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of In the Heights and Bring It On. In another, The Monica Bill Barnes Dance Company will perform while Glass narrates. Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields) is writing and performing a mini-musical of his own, built around a real story from This American Life, and Mike Birbiglia will narrate another true story in his inimitable comedic form.

This American Life is a public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to 2.2 million listeners each week. Another million people listen each week by podcast. It's produced by WBEZ Chicago.

Stephin Merritt, who has a book of Scrabble-based poetry coming out in the fall, also has a show coming up in North Carolina as part of Merge Records' continuing 25th anniversary celebration. His Merge25 performance, not part of the actual Merge25 fest, is instead part of a special Merge parternship with the 'Duke Performances Concert Series', as part of Duke's 'Music in the Gardens' series on the Duke University campus. All shows in that series are listed below:

The Coney Island Seaside Concert Series may not be happening this year but another long-running series of free summer concerts, the BAM R&B Festival at MetroTech is back for its 20th Anniversary in 2014. Happening Thursdays from June 5 - August 7 at MetroTech Commons, this year's line-up includes:

I love smoke. I love fire. I love metal. I love glass. I love plaster. I love bricks. And I love nature going to work on those things. In the old days, in the 1800s, they started building the most beautiful factories that were like cathedrals. I've visited many of these factories and photographed them. For me, it's like walking into a dream - a dream of textures, shapes and mood.... The factories, more often than not, today are very boring. - David Lynch @ BAM [via Rolling Stone]

It probably goes without saying that David Lynch is a fascinating guy. Having made some of the weirdest, most indelible cinematic images of the last 40 years, the director (and musician/cartoonist/meditation enthusiast) is a true iconoclast. Last night (4/29) at BAM was a rare opportunity to hear him speak in public, where he was in conversation with New York Public Library's Paul Holdengräber.

The freewheeling gabfest touched on NYC (he's overcoming a fear of the subway that dates back to the '50s), his love of cardboard, diners and other subjects. He also talked quite a bit about music, sharing his love of Jimi Hendrix, and Kanye West's "Blood on the Leaves" ("so minimal, so powerful but at the same time so beautiful"). He also gave a shout out to composer and frequent collaborator Angelo Badalamenti who was in the audience.

For more on Lynch's appearance at BAM last night, Rolling Stone has a full report. More pictures from David Lynch @ BAM below..

Singer/songwriter/violin looper Andrew Bird is going on a tour this summer with his new band The Hands of Glory, "an old timey acoustic configuration featuring Tift Merritt, Alan Hampton, Bowl of Fire alumnus Kevin O'Donnell, and Eric Heywood on pedal steel." That tour hits NYC for a free show at Central Park Summerstage on July 8 with Here We Go Magic singer Luke Temple. That show starts at 7 PM. All dates are listed below.

Andrew Bird will play NYC sooner than that though for RadioLoveFest, "a vibrant cross-section of genres and formats from storytelling, to music, to conversation," which runs from June 4-8 at BAM. Andrew appears on June 6 at the BAM Harvey Theater. Details:

The two-time Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, from PRI and WNYC, is public radio's smart and surprising guide to what's happening in pop culture and the arts. Each week, Andersen, novelist, journalist, and co-founder of legendary Spy magazine, gets inside the creative mind, introducing listeners to the people who are creating and shaping our culture on movie sets, in galleries, and on the internet.

At BAM, Andersen presents an evening of music and conversation featuring Andrew Bird, one of the most acclaimed and inventive songwriters in indie music, and Jennifer Egan, whose novel A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize.

Other highlights include a screening of Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense on June 5 in the BAM Rose Cinemas with a Q&A with director Jonathan Demme and WNYC's Brian Lehrer; NYC/WNYC's Ask Me Another show on June 6 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House with They Might Be Giants and house musician Jonathan Coulton; and WNYC"s Soundcheck on June 7 at BAM Harvey Theater with The Walkmen frontman (and now solo artist) Hamilton Leithauser.

Tickets for all RadioLoveFest shows are on sale now or will be on sale soon.

Full RadioLoveFest schedule, with the list of Andrew Bird tour dates, below...

As Dead Heads likely know, original Grateful Dead member Phil Lesh has an ongoing residency at Port Chester, NY's Capitol Theatre with his band Phil Lesh & Friends. The residency has already had him at the venue multiple times, and will continue to do so, including a run this week with shows tonight (4/10) through Saturday (4/12). The band for these particular shows is Phil Lesh, John Kadlecik, Jackie Greene, Marco Benevento and Joe Russo. Friday and Saturday are sold out, but you can still get tickets for tonight and Thursday.

After this week's run, Phil & Friends (this time Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes, Jackie Greene, John Medeski, and Joe Russo), who play mostly Grateful Dead songs, will head to NYC for two nights at BAM, April 14 and 15. Tickets for those shows are on sale now, and we're also giving away a pair for each night. Details on how to enter to win, below.

The Cap is owned by Peter Shapiro, who is presenting the BAM shows and also owns the Brooklyn Bowl, which has since opened locations in Las Vegas and London. Phil Lesh will play three nights at the Vegas one leading up to 4/20 (tickets), and he also plays two nights at the London one in July (tix on sale Friday, 4/11 at 10 AM).

There's other upcoming Dead-related shows at the Capitol Theatre too. Renowned tribute band Dark Star Orchestra does a two-night stand on May 16 & 17. Tickets for night 1 and night 2 are on sale.

And on a semi-related note, Hot Tuna, the blues band of Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady who come from the same San Francisco scene that birthed the Grateful Dead and their members have collaborated, play the Cap on June 16. That's one of four NYC-area shows on their electric tour with Leon Russell which also hits NYCB Theatre at Westbury on 6/20, Bergen PAC on 6/21 and Pine Belt Arena on 6/22. Tickets for the Cap show and the other three are on sale now.

In more Dead news, Phil Lesh's former Grateful Dead/Further partner Bob Weir is playing with his band RatDog at upstate NY jam band festival Mountain Jam, which takes place from June 5 - 8 on Hunter Mountain. Other artists playing include Gov't Mule, Dark Star Orchestra, Jeff Tweedy, Jonathan Wilson, Valerie June, Blitzen Trapper and many more. Since we last spoke, The Allman Brothers (who recently had to postpone the rest of their March Beacon Theatre run due to Gregg's illness) were added as the Sunday headliner and will be performing their first two albums in full. Tickets for the fest are still available.

Also not long after those Phil Lesh NYC shows, John Kadlecik, who has played in Further, Phil Lesh & Friends (including this week at the Cap) and Dark Star Orchestra, brings his John K. Band to NYC's Highline Ballroom on April 18 with opener Adam Ezra. John will be previewing new material at the show. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

In more related news, the Dead's pals New Riders of the Purple Sage (whose earliest incarnation featured Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Dead drummer Mickey Hart) will headline the "Psychedelix Americana": Music of The Deli and Relix show at Brooklyn's Bell House on Saturday (4/12). The rest of that lineup includes Andy Statman, Scott Metzger's WOLF!, Diamond Eye Jack Super Jam, Your Ex-Girlfriends, Union Street Preservation Society, and King Stork. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

There's also a Dead tribute band called Half Step playing Brooklyn Bowl on July 1. Tickets for that are on sale now.

And lastly, this isn't exactly "news" but in lieu of Letterman's retirement, Jambase.com posted a video of an old Jerry Garcia & Bob Weir rehearsal on Letterman. You can watch that, plus revisit other Dead/Letterman memories including Jerry & David Grisman playing "Friend of the Devil" in '93 and Jerry and Weir on the show in '82, below.

Alt-country vet Lucinda Williams mentioned when we caught her at SXSW that she'd be releasing a new album soon, and though that still hasn't been officially announced, Lucinda did announce some upcoming shows. She doesn't hit NYC this time around, but she'll be nearby to play The Stone Pony on June 11 and The Space at Westbury on June 19. Both of those shows, and others on the tour are with The Kenneth Brian Band. Tickets for the NYC-area shows go on sale Friday (4/11) at 10 AM and noon, respectively. The Westbury show is currently on artist presale. All dates are listed below.

In related news, fellow country singer Emmylou Harris, who covered and collaborated with Lucinda on her 1995 album, Wrecking Ball (which Nonesuch just reissued with bonus material), also has dates coming up in support of that reissue. Those dates see Emmylou joined by Daniel Lanois, Steven Nistor and Jam Wilson, plus Daniel Lanois will also open with a solo set. They'll hit NYC on Saturday (4/12) at BAM. Tickets are available via BAM, but you may have to call the box office. More details at BAM's site. All dates are listed below.

Lucinda and Emmylou also collaborated on "Greenville" from Lucinda's 1998 album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Watch a clip of them performing that together in 2007, with both artists' lists of dates, below...

As you may recall, legendary composer Ennio Morriconewill be in North America in March for concerts in Los Angeles and New York, including Brooklyn's Barclays Center on March 23 where he will lead a 200-piece orchestra. Tickets are still available.

Leading up to his Barclays appearance, BAMcinématek is presenting "The Music of Morricone," a film series running March 20 - 22 featuring four great movies with Morricone scores: Roland Joffé's The Mission (March 20, tickets); John Carpenter's The
Thing (March 21, tickets); Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (March 21, tickets); and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (March 22, tickets). Morricone will be at the 5:30 PM screening of Once Upon a Time in the West to introduce the film -- that one's already sold out, unfortunately, but there are other showings if you want to see the movie on the big screen.

UPDATE: Turns out none of the screenings are on sale yet. Tickets go on sale January 29 for BAMcinématek members and February 3 for the general public. Good news!